ISSN:
1573-3025
Keywords:
Aeroallergen
;
Soybean asthma
;
Immunochemical Assay
;
Air sampling
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract There have been reported epidemics of severe asthma in Barcelona, Spain, linked to a 10 kDa low molecular mass (LMM) allergen from soybean hulls that became airborne during unloading of ships. As a preliminary probe of the potential for dispersion of this allergen in USA cities, four automated air samplers were placed around a grain elevator in New Orleans and operated continuously from May to October 1990. The allergen was extracted from the filters and immunochemically assayed for soybean aeroallergen. On 31 separate days, the airborne allergen concentration in at least one of the samples was over 10 000 U/m3, similar to those observed in Barcelona on some epidemic days. Areas North and East of the elevator were most affected. Serologic studies showed that of 50 asthmatics from New Orleans who were participants in an unrelated clinical study 4 or 8% demonstrated elevated titers of IgE antibody to LMM soybean allergen. Only 1 of 475 control sera (half of which were also asthmatic) obtained elsewhere in the US was positive for LMM soybean IgE antibody. Based on the findings in this study, there is a great possibility that on some days there is enough soybean allergen in the air and a sufficient frequency of soybean aeroallergen RAST positive asthmatics in New Orleans to warrant further investigation of the contribution of soybean aeroallergen to asthma around the port of New Orleans.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02447409
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